Bikes We'd Like To See In India: Yamaha Nozza Grande 125 Hybrid

This time around it’s a scooter!

At the end of last year, Yamaha revamped its scooter lineup by giving the Fascino and Ray-ZR new 125cc engines. The latter also received a quirky design updated to help Yamaha target a younger audience. While these scooters have been performing reasonably well for the brand, they still haven’t managed to make a dent in the Indian scooter segment. But what if Yamaha were to play by its strengths and offer the Nozza Grande 125 (a.k.a Yamaha Grand Filano) in India, a premium hybrid scooter that’s become a hit in other South Asian countries. 

Why should it come to India?

The 2020 Yamaha Fascino and Ray-ZR have proved to be quite good in their own right and have been raking in sales for the brand. But the figures aren’t comparable to scooters like the BS6 Suzuki Access 125 and the Activa 125. Suzuki could turn the tables if it were to introduce the  Nozza Grande 125 in India. It’s a 125cc scooter that’s not only feature-loaded, but also offers some serious performance while being easy on the environment.

What makes it special?

It packs the same 125cc hybrid engine that’s seen on the Yamaha Grand Filano. Essentially, a hybrid system offers power boosts to the engine as and when required. In other words, it acts like a torque-assist function that fills in power gaps for the engine, thereby offering better performance, fuel efficiency and heat dissipation.  

And unlike the Fascino and Ray-ZR, the Nozza Grande has a bit of European flair to it. It looks sleek and could easily fit in with the current crop of scooters in the Indian market.

Features galore:

Yamaha India is known to cut down on features to keep costs in check. But if it were to offer the  Nozza Grande in all its glory, it could easily outdo its competition. To put things into perspective, the 125cc scooter comes equipped with a full LED headlight and tail light, a neat-looking analogue instrument console with colour TFT display which reads out information like distance to empty, time, fuel consumption, real-time mileage and performance of the hybrid system.

You even get a mobile charging port on the front apron, keyless ignition with a smart multifunction key which allows the user to unlock the handlebar or the fuel cap.

It’s practical too!

The fuel tank is positioned on the front apron for easy access. And if that wasn’t enough, the  Nozza Grande comes with 27-litres of underseat storage space which should be more than enough to store your helmet and some knick-knacks.

Powerful enough?

The 125cc air-cooled fuel-injected motor puts out 10.13PS of power and 12Nm of peak torque. It features a start/stop system and a one-push start system that’s claimed to be 7 per cent more fuel-efficient compared to regular scooters.

The entire package gets a starting price of VND 45,500,000 (Rs 1,47,386) in Vietnam, which is quite steep for a 125cc scooter. But Yamaha also offers the Nozza Grande 125 without the hybrid tech, which brings the price down to VND 41,990,000 (around Rs 1.29 lakh). What do you guys think? Does the Yamaha  Nozza Grande 125 make sense for the India market?